Blue icon with an exclamation mark on a DHCP scope

Typically means:

The DHCP scope is active, but there’s a warning condition.

Common Reasons for the Blue Exclamation Mark:

1. Scope is running out of available IP addresses
   • The number of leases is close to the maximum.
   • Might result in clients failing to get IPs soon.
2. Exhaustion or near-exhaustion of available addresses
   • Check Address Pool vs Address Leases.
3. Incorrect configuration or missing options
   • Required options (like Router/Gateway or DNS) might be missing.
4. IP conflicts
   • The server may have detected a conflict on the network.
5. BOOTP support but no BOOTP address range
   • If BOOTP is enabled but there’s no BOOTP range configured.

How to Check and Resolve:

1. Open DHCP Manager
   • Start → Run → dhcpmgmt.msc
2. Right-click the Scope → Properties
   • Check if the address pool is nearing exhaustion.
   • Look under “Address Pool” and “Address Leases”.
3. Verify scope options
   • Expand the scope and check “Scope Options”.
   • Make sure options like:
     • 003 Router
     • 006 DNS Server
     • 015 DNS Domain Name
     • Are correctly configured.
4. Check for IP conflicts
   • Check the event logs (Event Viewer > Windows Logs > System) for DHCP-related errors or conflicts.
5. Reconcile the scope
   • Right-click the DHCP server or scope → Reconcile All Scopes
   • This checks for inconsistencies between the registry and the DHCP database.